Stolen
by Ketsi-aiita-n
Summary: Rating rose...I'm just getting started here. RenFaust... Before you flame, its a challenge, ok?
1. Chapter 1

This is for DBZHobbit, who gave me this challenge.

Ketsi: I'll appear in here somewhere as Ketsi. I like to Mary-Sue. Now, Yoh. Tell us about this couple!

Yoh: Its…._confused_ Ren and Faust.

Ketsi: Yeah. I thought that too.

Ren: O.O You're not…actually…serious about this?

Ketsi: _serious face_ I'm sorry Ren. You'll just have to…deal with it.

Faust: Are you saying I'm not gorgeous?

Yoh: I'm not.

Ketsi: _taunting_ I see another fan fiction, Yoh…you and Faust…

Yoh: _squeak_

Ketsi: Hmm. Can anyone else see a resemblance between Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas?

Ren: _evil glare_ You say I'm like CATHERINE ZETA JONES?

Ketsi: Yes.

Ren: _faints_

Faust: _bursts into tears_ She said I'm OLD!

Ketsi: _waking up Ren_ Not that old.

Ren: Disclaimer time! Shaman King, would you believe it, doesn't belong to her.

Ketsi: If it did, I'd be able to at least buy my clothes back.

Yoh: Yeah…she was playing minesweeper online…against Sailor Mercury.

Ketsi: And the rest, they say, is history.

Yoh: She may be using Japanese names…most of the time…but you still have to imagine Ren/Len/Whatever with that British accent!

Ren: I resent you.

Ketsi: _in hysterics_ piddling! He said piddling!

-'--'--'--'--'--'--'-

Ren's eyes flicked open. He looked at a nearby clock. 00.30. He ran his tongue across the roof of his dry mouth and gave a small 'hn'. He got out of the hotel bed and made his way towards the fridge to get a drink of milk.

As he finished off the bottle, he felt something was different.

Something was missing.

"Bason," Ren called.

Nothing.

"Bason!"

Still nothing.

Ren gritted his teeth. He felt a fleeting instant of panic.

"Bason, I command you to appear!"

Nothing happened. And it kept on not happening.

Ren shook.

"Bason…" he whispered.

For the first time in his life, Ren felt utterly alone.

-'--'--'--'--'--'--'-

Jun woke up to a sound she did not immediately recognise. She sat up and looked around.

She saw a shadow outside her room. "Ren?" she called.

The boy looked up and Jun was shocked to see his eyes sparkle with tears and his body shake with sobs.

The caring older sister part of her took over her as she ran to her brothers side. "Ren? Ren what's wrong?" She knelt next to him and took his hands. "Ren?"

"Bason…" Ren whispered, tears trickling down his cheeks. "He's not here. Bason has gone."

Jun was just as shocked as her little brother and hugged him close. _Who would do such a thing?_ she thought to herself.

"Asakura," Ren whispered.

"You think he took Bason?"

Ren shook his head. "No. But I think he may be able to help me find him."

"Well," Jun said, trying to shake off the shock and changing her role to 'mother'. "We need to sort you out. You can't turn up on Yoh's doorstep at 3am looking like this." She used her sleeve to wipe away the tears trickling down Ren's face. "No matter what happened to you."

Ren gave a small smile. "As always - 'what will other people think'. You never change."

"What will other people think?" Jun asked, also smiling. "Do you want to turn up in fluffy pyjamas?"

Ren realised about his questionable attire and blushed. "Perhaps I should change."

-'--'--'--'--'--'--'-

It was, in fact, 7 in the morning before Ren finally arrived at the Asakura residence, and was told my Manta that he had missed Yoh, who had been sent out by Anna at around 5 and wasn't expected back for another hour.

"Um, but come in anyway," Manta said. "You can wait if you want."

Ren thought back to the last time he had met Anna and decided against it. "I'll come back later," he said. I'll probably end up doing housework, he thought.

-'--'--'--'--'--'--'-

The Chinese boy left and began walking through the town aimlessly. He paused next to the graveyard. Perhaps some of the spirits inside would know where Bason was.

"Bason, I -" Ren began to speak but stopped when he realised that there was no-one for him to talk to. He had always spoken his thoughts out loud to his guardian ghost, and he missed it terribly.

Ren's eyes stung.

"Spirits," he called. "Spirits. I need to talk."

There was no reply.

Ren sat down on one of the gravestones, his face pale.

"Am I no longer a Shaman?" Ren asked out loud, then a second later, mentally kicked himself in the head himself for thinking out loud.

The graveyard was too silent to him, but it let him hear something he had never heard before.

It was the sound of…he didn't know. The sound of sunlight shafting through leaves. The sound of sleeping nocturnal creatures.

His own heartbeat.

Wait - no. Two heartbeats. He turned on the gravestone to see someone behind him, watching him with electric blue eyes beneath blonde hair.

"Searching for spirits?" the shaman asked.

Ren nodded.

"Why not ask…ah." Faust's eyes widened a little as he realised. "No spirit."

"He has been taken," Ren replied. He turned away and stared across the graveyard. He had never had to ask for anyone's help apart from his sister's before, and felt ashamed and awkward. "Could you help me?"

Faust smiled at Ren's turned back. "I can. Meet me back here at dusk."

Ren looked at the older Shaman over his shoulder. "Thank you." He jumped off the gravestone and started to walk back to Yoh's house.

"I look forward to it."

-'--'--'--'--'--'--'-

As Ren wandered back to Yoh's house, he thought back to the graveyard. "Where were all the spirits?" He wondered, again out loud.

Ren sighed irritably as a passing woman gave him a strange look.

He had to get Bason back. For his own sanity.

-'--'--'--'--'--'--'-

"Oh, hi Ren," Yoh grinned as he walked in. "Manta said you were looking for me. What's up?"

"I need your help," Ren said. He was getting used to this whole 'asking for aid' thing.

Yoh raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"Bason has - he - he's gone missing."

"What?" Yoh's mouth dropped open in shock. "He's missing?"

Ren nodded silently, the sadness obvious in his eyes, but he didn't have the strength to cover it up.

He didn't have the strength to stop the single tear trickle down his cheek.

-'--'--'--'--'--'--'-

No-one in or around the Asakura residence knew anything about the disappearance of Bason, so Ren left with no help, but he did leave with a very full stomach after Horo decided that eating away his troubles was the best option and forced him to do so.

Ren had spotted the time and realised he would be late for Faust if he didn't hurry.

As he turned the corner, he saw Faust standing at the entrance to the cemetery.

"You're nearly late," he said softly.

Ren caught his breath. "I'm sorry."

Faust gave a faint smile. "Well, No matter. Here. Let me introduce you to someone."

He gestured to a girl standing behind him, dressed in flowing black robes and examining her fingernails casually. She gave a winning smile and waved. "Hi there," she said, in a cheerful British accent. "I'm Ketsi. I'm a spirit hunter."

-'--'--'--'--'--'--'-

Ketsi: So….tell me what you think.

Ren: Cheerful British accent?

Ketsi: Yes. I'm born and bred British, baby!

Yoh: Oooh. Alliteration.


	2. Chapter 2

Ketsi: Ah, yes. To update. Something that never happens…but it's for DBZHobbit, so I will.

Ren: Feel privileged.

Yoh: So….disclaimer, anyone?

Ketsi: 'Snot mine.

Yoh: --v

Ketsi: But the character called…Ketsi…belongs to me. And so does Ren's Inner Voice.

RIV: There's a difference between the voice and The Voice. The first one is me.

Ren: The second one is the one that Faust uses to hypnotise people.

/RIV speaking to Ren/

And back again.

Ketsi: DBZHobbit insists on humour…hmm…

-'--'--'--'--'--'--'-

"Ketsurui's family has a long history of Spirit hunting," Faust said. "It was you…father, was it not, who sold Li Pailong to En?"

Ketsi nodded, but Ren's lip curled at the mention of his uncles name. (A.N. I'm taking it from the Anime, not the Manga.) "He also caught Bason for you, Ren," Ketsi said.

Ren's head snapped up to Faust. "So that is why you brought her here."

"All the way from England," Ketsi interjected, earning a glare from Ren.

"She is part Shaman, and her father is her guardian ghost," Faust said.

Ren raised an eyebrow. "What an…interesting person," he said.

/I don't trust her./ Ren's inner self growled. /She looks too innocent./

Ren looked confused. This…thing, with waist length red shimmer-y hair and a black leather catsuit on…looks innocent?

/Yes,/ Ren's inner voice said. /Trust me on this one./

The girl frowned at Ren's random changing expressions. "So, are we going to do this?"

Ren sighed. She was obnoxious, but both Rens' decided they would have to let her do her job, whatever it was. /I still think she's scary./

"Right! Raymond!" Ketsi said suddenly, causing a man wearing a suit and with a small black moustache who was very obviously British to appear beside her. "Spirit form!" She called, making the man become a small ball of light that was a pale, sickly green. "Into the net!" She drew out a large butterfly net and put the spirit into it rather casually.

"The spirits are coming. I can sense them," Faust said, in melodious tones.

Ren found himself staring into Faust's eyes, which were, luckily for him, staring out across the empty graveyard. /The way he spoke…it's…/

Dreamy.

/No! Haunting!

Ren's inner voice gave an evil laugh.

I did not just have that other thought.

/Oh, but you did./

The spirit hunter gave a smile that was both 'I-know-something-you've-not-realised-yet' and 'I'm-the-authoress-fear-me-you-damned-mortals'. Both of which scared the Hell out of Ren. Both of him.

"Bason, we should -" Ren's inner voice kicked him. "I should stop talking out loud."

Faust placed a hand on Ren's shoulder. "You're not crazy just yet." he said. Ren shivered where the German had just touched him.

/Stop it! Right now!/

Ren looked at Ketsi. "What should I do?"

She gave a knowing smile. "You can leave, my dear. So can Faust. I have spirits to catch."

"Come back to my place," Faust said, this those hypnotic tones. Ren had no choice in the matter.

"Alright then."

-'--'--'--'--'--'--'-

Faust opened the door to the apartment. "It's temporary. Not much." His voice became that spellbinding tone again as he spoke. "Stay the night if you wish."

"I wish," Ren barely whispered.

Only Ren's inner voice stayed completely focused. /You should go back to the hotel, Ren-kun. Jun is there. With food. And milk! We love milk, remember?/ The voice started to get agitated. /Fine! If you're not going to listen to me…/

I'm not. I'm staying with Faust.

No arguing with that.

Faust fell back onto a sofa, and Ren fell next to him lazily. Somehow, he felt decidedly sleepy.

/Lazy more like./

"Come and talk to me," Faust said, putting an arm around the younger boy. Ren, on whom The Voice had worn off, lay back willingly.

"Bason…has gone," Ren said quietly.

"Not quite," Faust said. "You will get him back somehow, Ren-chan."

Ren smiled and looked up at Faust through half closed eyes. "The word 'chan' sounds so strange coming from you."

Faust said nothing, so Ren tipped his head all the way back and found himself eye to eye with Faust.

Aishiteru, Ren thought.

Ren's inner voice had given up telling him no.

"Faust…" he said, almost silently. Before he knew what was happening, he was kissing Faust. His hands found Faust's neck and pulled him closer, kissing him harder.

/You're doing this all by yourself,/ Inner Ren growled, leaning back in an imaginary chair with his hands behind his head. /I refuse to have a part in this./

They broke apart for a second so Ren could turn and face Faust, before locking lips again.

Faust suddenly stopped and began to kiss across Ren's jawline and down his neck. Inner Ren jumped up as Faust's hands began to wander across Ren's waist. /Stop it! Ren! Tell him NOW!/

For once, Ren listened to Inner Ren. "Faust. Stop."

Faust looked up at the Chinese boy, and Inner Ren spotted something Ren did not. The insane, wild - hungry - look in his eyes for that split second before they became concerned. "Why? What's wrong?"

"I'm fifteen," Ren said. "I may have killed people, but I still have some innocence left."

/Hell Yes!/

"I understand. I am sorry." his eyes became a little hungry. "you are just…very attractive."

Ren blushed. "Well.."

"May I at least kiss you again, pet?" he asked.

Ren nodded, but inner Ren was outraged.

/You called us PET?/

-'--'--'--'--'--'--'-

Ketsi: _twitches_ Squick! Squiiick! Get it off!

Yoh: Let me explain. 'Squick' is a small, purple and white squid that came with the plotbunny DBZHobbit gave to her.

Ketsi: Get it off!

Ren: And it didn't come with cash for extermination.

Ketsi: Eeeeeeeevil.

Yoh: It attached itself halfway through the fic. It tried to make her write 'snuggle'.

Ketsi: _howls_


End file.
